Save the Children receives $400,000 from employees of DreamWorks Animation to aid Japan and New Zealand

WESTPORT, Conn. (April 15, 2011) — Save the Children today announced that it has received $400,000 from employees of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. to provide relief to children and families affected by the disaster in Japan and earthquake in New Zealand.

“The generosity of the Dream Works Animation employees is much appreciated,” said Charles MacCormack, the President and CEO of Save the Children. “This money is going to help thousands of Japanese children return to school and their families rebuild their lives in the months and years to come.”

“On behalf of everyone in the DreamWorks Animation family, our hearts go out to the people of Japan and New Zealand. DreamWorkers from across the studio came together in a meaningful show of support the moment we put the word out about our Company-wide fundraising efforts to aid these two countries,” said Dan Satterthwaite, Head of Human Resources for DreamWorks Animation. “We truly hope that our monetary gift is able to make the dire situation a little bit better as individuals and organizations around the world continue to lend aid to these recovery efforts.”

Save the Children has worked in Japan for 25 years. An estimated 74,000 children remain displaced as a result of the disaster in Japan. Many children and families are staying in over 2,000 evacuation centers, some of which have no electricity or running water.

Save the Children has set up “child-friendly spaces” in evacuation centers. The organization is also planning to distribute 500 kits to families so that they can attend to hygiene needs, as well as 5,500 education kits to provide to children who lost all of their possessions, including school supplies.

Save the Children is also helping children and their caregivers in New Zealand recover emotionally from the February earthquake. The organization’s programs help New Zealanders reestablish a sense of trust, security and self-esteem, all factors in reducing or eliminating anxiety and the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

For more information on Save the Children’s work in Japan and New Zealand, visit our website: www.savethechildren.org.

DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, including computer generated animated feature films, television specials and series, live entertainment properties and online virtual worlds, meant for audiences around the world. The Company has world-class creative talent, a strong and experienced management team and advanced filmmaking technology and techniques. DreamWorks Animation has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE® Magazine for three consecutive years. In 2011, DreamWorks Animation ranks No. 10 on the list.

All of DreamWorks Animation’s feature films are now being produced in 3D. The Company has theatrically released a total of 21 animated feature films, including the franchise properties of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

Save the Children has been working in Japan for 25 years. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Save the Children deployed emergency response teams to assess the needs of children and their families.

Multiple child-friendly spaces have been established in evacuation centers in Sendai City where displaced families are staying. Child-friendly spaces provide children with an opportunity to play with other children while freeing up parents to work on the recovery. More child-friendly spaces will be set up in the coming days.

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Save the Children teams are in Japan to help children affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The first Child-Friendly Space and has been established and more are in process

The spaces are always a clearly designated area in a shelter. The areas are monitored by specially trained Save the Children staff and local volunteers who lead activities for the children.

In Japan, children have been making origami crafts and drawing colorful cartoon characters.

Our staff is trained to identify children who may be particularly vulnerable by the incident. Local volunteers are also continually trained so that they are better able to help organize more interactive activities and help prepare children to return to school, once they reopen.

Working along side their community, we help provide children and families in Japan with the support they need to feel that some day soon, things will get better.

Save the Children teams are in Japan to help children affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The first Child-Friendly Space and has been established and more are in process

The spaces are always a clearly designated area in a shelter. The areas are monitored by specially trained Save the Children staff and local volunteers who lead activities for the children.

In Japan, children have been making origami crafts and drawing colorful cartoon characters.

Our staff is trained to identify children who may be particularly vulnerable by the incident. Local volunteers are also continually trained so that they are better able to help organize more interactive activities and help prepare children to return to school, once they reopen.

Working along side their community, we help provide children and families in Japan with the support they need to feel that some day soon, things will get better.

Save the Children has been on the front lines helping Japanese children face extraordinary challenges to their well-being and recovery from these disasters. Save the Children estimates that at least 100,000 children have been affected by the disasters; many of whom have suffered profound losses.

“It’s clear many children and their families need help,” said Ian Woolverton with the group Save the Children, speaking from the Japanese city of Asahi.

He met with people pushing mud from their homes and saw “bizarre sights like overturned vehicles wedged in houses or leaning on walls.”

Woolverton said he spoke to a woman living with her four children, ages newborn to 8, in a small classroom at a school because their home has no water.

“The most distressing experience for me was meeting Natsumi and Nao Nakazawa, 10 and 11, who were afraid of the water and desperate to return to school to be with friends they’d not seen since the earthquake and tsunami,” Woolverton said.

Save the Children has sent teams to assess the needs of children and their families in the worst affected tsunami areas between Miyagi Prefecture and Tokyo.

Stephen McDonald, who is leading the charity’s response, said: ”We are extremely anxious that up to 100,000 children have been displaced because of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

”Their homes may have been destroyed and many of them will be sheltering in crowded evacuation centres. We can only imagine how frightening the experience of the last few days will have been for them”.

“There is also a risk that some of them will have become separated from their parents and family members because of the disaster. It is important we provide support to parents and children who are struggling to cope in the aftermath of the disaster.”

Stephen McDonald, Save the Children’s team leader in Japan said, “We are extremely anxious for children in tsunami-affected areas that are at risk because of a triple whammy of life-threatening incidents including an earthquake, tsunami and now an incident at a nuclear reactor.”

The teams will be within 100-kilometres of the nuclear reactor at Fukushima where there has been an explosion. In the area around the reactor, the authorities have set up a 20-kilometre radius exclusion zone, and have reported that up 170,000 people have been evacuated.

Evacuation centres are being established in the area and along the tsunami-affected coast to accommodate people, and it will be important that children’s needs are met while parents register for help and assistance from the authorities.

“We’re looking at setting-up child friendly spaces in the worst affected areas. These spaces provide children an opportunity for children to play safely with other children whilst freeing up their parents to work on the recovery,” added McDonald.

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children. Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.